Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold Story of English

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold Story of English

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Editorial Reviews

A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar

Why do we say “I am reading a catalog” instead of “I read a catalog”? Why do we say “do” at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Language distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.

Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century ad, John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor. Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English— and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for (and no, it’s not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition).

Customer Reviews

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue

Reviewed by Sue, 2010-02-10

I first learned about John McWhorter and this book on PBS, and I immediately bought it. McWhorter is a wonderful writer, and the book is sneaky in the way that it imparts rather abstract knowledge in a delightful conversational style. Though McWhorter can be a little long-winded at times, I really enjoyed this book, and I consider it an important reference for my studies in linguistics. I will be buying more of his published works. 4/5 stars. Thanks for reading.

How English Lost Its Endings

Reviewed by Michael Gunther, 2010-01-06

In this book, linguist John McWhorter describes how, and why, English is so oddly different from rest of its relatives in the Germanic family. These grammatical differences include the use of "do" in questions ("Do you think that he will write a review?"), the use of "-ing" to indicate present tense ("He is writing a review"), and a drastic paring-back of the word endings for case, number, and gender. His theory is that these and other peculiarities can be traced back to the way that English and its predecessors rubbed up against other languages in the course of history.

First, circa 500 BC, Proto-Germanic itself lost numerous case endings in contact with Punic-speaking voyagers in Denmark. A thousand years later (449 AD), Germanic invaders colonized an England that had already been settled by Celtic people (Celtic remnants today include the Welsh), so that Old English came to include some Celtic in its makeup. Finally, during the 8th century, Viking colonizers, in learning to speak the Old English of their newly adopted home, rubbed off most of its grammatical endings to produce Middle English. Although McWhorter's story ends there, he does mention that Norman French later added whole boatloads of new words, and that is how we got the English that we have today.

On the minus side, the author spends a lot of time beating long-dead horses (grammar police, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis). More controversially, and as McWhorter himself admits very openly, his story is not one that is accepted by the majority of historical linguists today. The basic problem is that it is hard to match up changes in written English to the dates that the theory requires. Be that as it may, it is exciting to follow along with the evidence and arguments on such an interesting topic. The author's writing is clear and amusing, such that non-specialist readers will be able to follow the book easily. It contains a lot of detail, including examples from many other languages, and is most recommended for readers who have a pretty keen interest in the history of the English language.

OK Book

Reviewed by Student Guy, 2009-12-29

This book was a nice followup to my bio class, where we learned about the evolution of language. I found out some interesting stuff about the forces affecting English, and was fairly fascinated in reading about the question of whether grammar restricts thought or not. I think language overall is pretty interesting, because it really doesn't make sense...but at the same time it follows logical rules.

The book I thought explained itself well. It was kind of repetitive at some parts, but I thought the repetition help to keep things fresh in the mind, even if a bit tiresome.

I definitely learned the author's main points, and some other interesting tidbits of info. That's good, because I was interested in the author's specific answers information from the outset. Nice and concise, good-to-know info, in a short read. Plus it gave me a better understanding of what I learned in school. And now I'm using his book as a starting point for a project. Can't complain about that.

Additionally, I think it would be useful if the author were more specific when talking about how grammar doesn't determine thought. Of course, the fact that the Japanese aren't prevented from thinking of the future because their language lacks a future tense. Great point, author. However, language itself is very influential on thought (depending on how you phrase sentences, you can influence people at a very deep level). I think, literally, just a sentence saying this (that while grammars of different languages do not make the speakers different in thought, the way one uses language is very influential) would've been nice. I suppose that's very obvious, though... haha sorry.

A nearly perfect book about a fun topic

Reviewed by R. L. Greene, 2009-12-16

I'm a language book nerd from way back, and familiar with the issues McWhorter tackles in this book - the odd usage in English of recruiting "do" as an auxiliary verb ("Do you like fish?"), and the odd present-progressive ("I am writing a review.") Nonetheless, I learned a lot new here. Both of these usages are rare around the world, very rare. McWhorter does a good job of explaining the scholarly debate, and his own view (the influence of Welsh and Cornish), but the book reads breezily and easily, for all the erudition. (In fact the only slight criticism I'd make is that it reads a bit too breezily at times, as if McWhorter is worried he's going to turn people off being too clever and too technical for too long. Not a problem.)

After this main argument, the book goes on to the Viking and Norman influences on English and some other topics. If you like either language or history, it's fun. If you like both, more fun still.

A hard read with a snappy title

Reviewed by John Cain, 2009-11-28

I bought the book because it was paired with Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount Jr. I know who Roy Blount is and I thought if the book was packaged with his book for a discount perhaps they would be similiar.

I was wrong, terribly wrong.

Blount's book is always witty and entertaining and often informative. This book is packed with information and opinions but seldom witty or entertaining. I now know more about the infinitive "to do" than I ever did before but have no greater interest in it than I ever did before.

This is one book you should read a few pages of before buying it. You may find the writing and the topic interesting, but for me from tthe first chapter onward it was a labor to read; tedious but interesting like a guest who has brought travel pictures of a place I've never been to but am mildly intrested in.